Mobile commerce systems and methods

ABSTRACT

Methods, systems, and machine-readable media are disclosed for utilizing mobile electronic devices in various types of financial transactions. According to one embodiment, a method of providing a plurality of mobile commerce functions can comprise receiving a communication related to a function of a mobile wallet application of a mobile device. One or more of a plurality of acquirer systems for handling of the communication can be identified based on the function of the mobile wallet application to which the communication relates. The communication can be routed to the identified one or more acquirer systems for handling of the communication. In some cases, a reply to the communication can be received from at least one of the identified one or more acquirer systems and the reply can be sent to a recipient.

CROSS-REFERENCES TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No.60/891,106, filed Feb. 22, 2007 by Arthur and entitled “Mobile CommerceSystems and Methods” and U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/911,113,filed Apr. 11, 2007 by Friedman and entitled “Mobile CommerceInfrastructure Systems and Methods,” of which the entire disclosure ofboth is incorporated herein by reference.

This application is also related to the following commonly-owned,co-pending applications, of which the entire disclosure of each isincorporated herein by reference, as if set forth in full in thisdocument, for all purposes:

U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/830,362, filed Jul. 30, 2007, byArthur et al. and entitled “Account Information Lookup Systems andMethods in Mobile Commerce”; U.S. patent application Ser. No.11/830,392, filed Jul. 30, 2007, by Arthur et al. and entitled“Enrollment and Registration of a Device for Mobile Commerce”; U.S.patent application Ser. No. 11/830,409, filed Jul. 30, 2007, by Arthuret al. and entitled “Marketing Messages in Mobile Commerce”; U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 11/830,420, filed Jul. 30, 2007, by Arthur et al.and entitled “Provisioning of a Device for Mobile Commerce”; U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 11/830,436, filed Jul. 30, 2007, by Arthur et al.and entitled “Transfer of Value Between Mobile Devices in a MobileCommerce System”; U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/830,459, filedJul. 30, 2007, by Arthur et al. and entitled “Payments Using a MobileCommerce Device”; and U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/830,336, filedJul. 30, 2007, by Byerley et al. and entitled “Mobile CommunicationSystems and Methods for Redeeming and Reporting Coupons.”

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Embodiments of the present invention generally relate to paymentsystems. More specifically, embodiments of the present invention relateto payment systems supporting use of mobile electronic devices invarious types of financial transactions.

Today, merchants and service providers accept many forms of payment.Many merchants will accept cash, credit cards, debit cards, stored-valuecards, checks, and promotional items such as coupons. All of these formsof payment are often carried by a consumer because some merchants and/orservice providers may only accept some of the various possible forms ofpayment. Sometimes, a customer may not pre-plan a visit to a specificmerchant and/or service provider. So, the consumer may wish to carry thedifferent forms of payment in case the consumer does happen to make anunplanned visit.

This can lead to numerous methods of payments being carried by aconsumer on a day-to-day basis. Additionally, a consumer may also needto carry other items regularly such as a drivers license, identificationcards, loyalty program cards, and membership cards. When a consumer hasto carry all of these items, they may also become disorganized andmisplaced, causing security concerns, and possibly causing transactionsto consume more time.

Additionally, various forms of wireless or contactless devices have beenintroduced for use in various types of transactions. For example,contactless transaction initiation is often performed with a “smart”card or other device such as a key fob or a mobile device such as a cellphone or Personal Digital Assistant (PDA) containing a memory and aprocessor. Such a card or device typically also includes Radio-FrequencyIDentification (“RFID”) or Near-Field Communications (NFC) componentsfor contactless communication with a Point-Of-Sale (POS) device. Theinformation stored in the memory of the device and communicated via theRFID or NFC components to the POS device is generally similar oridentical to the information recorded on the magnetic stripe of a card,i.e., account number etc. Thus, in some cases, such devices may beutilized instead of more conventional cards.

However, current payment systems that use contactless devices arerestricted to particular payment channels. For example, in some systems,payment requests initiated by the use of a contactless device are routedthrough a conventional debit or credit authorization network. In othersystems, payment requests are processed offline by the device, whichincludes a “stored value” account balance. In other cases, transactionsinvolving such stored value or pre-paid accounts are processed online bysystems maintaining account balance and other information. The networksand systems handling credit, debit, pre-paid, and possibly otheraccounts are separate from each other. Furthermore, these networks andsystems may not be compatible or interoperable. Therefore, a deviceintended for use on one network or system may not be usable on a POSdevice operating on another network. Additionally, the ability of anygiven device to handle more than one account or account type is limited.Therefore, the use of such contactless devices has not successfullyreduced the number of different forms of payment a consumer carries.Hence, there is a need in the art for improved methods and systems forutilizing mobile electronic devices in various types of financialtransactions.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Methods, systems, and machine-readable media are disclosed for utilizingmobile electronic devices in various types of financial transactions.According to one embodiment, a method of providing a plurality of mobilecommerce functions can comprise receiving a communication related to afunction of a mobile wallet application of a mobile device. Receivingthe communication can comprise receiving the communication from a mobilewallet server, from a merchant system, from a point-of-sale device, orfrom an acquirer system. One or more of a plurality of acquirer systemsfor handling of the communication can be identified based on thefunction of the mobile wallet application to which the communicationrelates. For example, the function can comprise a payment function, anaccount information lookup function, a registration function, amarketing function, a provisioning function, or another function. Thecommunication can be routed to the identified one or more acquirersystems for handling of the communication. In some cases, a reply to thecommunication can be received from at least one of the identified one ormore acquirer systems and the reply can be sent to a recipient. Sendingthe reply to the recipient can comprise sending the reply to a mobilewallet server, a merchant system, a point-of-sale device, an acquirersystem, or another system.

According to another embodiment, a system can comprise a mobile deviceadapted to execute a mobile wallet application and a plurality ofacquirer systems. Each of the plurality of acquirer systems can beadapted to provide one or more mobile commerce functions. A gateway canbe communicatively coupled with the mobile device and each of theplurality of acquirer systems. The gateway can be adapted to receive acommunication related to a function of the mobile wallet application,identify one or more of the plurality of acquirer systems for handlingof the communication based on the function of the mobile walletapplication to which the communication relates and the one or moremobile commerce functions provided by each of the plurality of acquirersystems, and route the communication to the identified one or moreacquirer systems for handling of the communication.

In some cases, the system can further comprise a wireless communicationsnetwork. The mobile device can be communicatively coupled with thewireless communications network. A mobile wallet server can also becommunicatively coupled with the wireless communications network and thegateway. The gateway can be adapted to receive the communication relatedto the function of the mobile wallet application from the mobile walletserver. The mobile wallet server can be adapted to send thecommunication related to the function of the mobile wallet applicationto the gateway in response to a communication from the mobile walletapplication. The mobile wallet server can be adapted to receive thecommunication from the mobile wallet application via the wirelesscommunications network. In some cases, the gateway can be furtheradapted to receive a reply to the communication from at least one of theidentified one or more acquirer systems and send the reply to the mobilewallet server. The mobile wallet server can be adapted to send the replyto the mobile wallet application via the wireless communicationsnetwork.

Additionally or alternatively, the system can further comprise amerchant system communicatively coupled with the gateway. The gatewaycan be adapted to receive the communication related to the function ofthe mobile wallet application from the merchant system. The gateway canbe further adapted to receive a reply to the communication from at leastone of the identified one or more acquirer systems and send the reply tothe merchant system.

Additionally or alternatively, the system can further comprise apoint-of-sale device communicatively coupled with the gateway. Thegateway can be adapted to receive the communication related to thefunction of the mobile wallet application from the point-of-sale device.The gateway can be further adapted to receive a reply to thecommunication from at least one of the identified one or more acquirersystems and send the reply to the point-of-sale device.

Additionally or alternatively, the gateway can be adapted to receive thecommunication related to the function of the mobile wallet applicationfrom one of the plurality of acquirer systems. The plurality of acquirersystems can comprise a payment system communicatively coupled with oneor more financial institution systems. The financial institution systemscan be adapted to maintain information related to a plurality offinancial accounts. In another example, the plurality of acquirersystems comprises an enrollment system adapted to enroll the mobiledevice for use with the system. In yet another example, the plurality ofacquirer systems can comprise a loyalty system adapted to maintaininformation related to a loyalty account under a customer loyaltyprogram. In still another example, the plurality of acquirer systems cancomprise a stored value system adapted to maintain information relatedto a stored value account.

According to yet another embodiment, a machine-readable medium can havestored thereon a series of instruction which, when executed by aprocessor, cause the processor to provide a plurality of mobile commercefunctions by receiving a communication related to a function of a mobilewallet application of a mobile device. Receiving the communication cancomprise receiving the communication from a mobile wallet server, from amerchant system, from a point-of-sale device, or from an acquirersystem. One or more of a plurality of acquirer systems for handling ofthe communication can be identified based on the function of the mobilewallet application to which the communication relates. The communicationcan be routed to the identified one or more acquirer systems forhandling of the communication. In some cases, a reply to thecommunication can be received from at least one of the identified one ormore acquirer systems and the reply can be sent to a recipient. Sendingthe reply to the recipient can comprise sending the reply to a mobilewallet server, a merchant system, a point-of-sale device, an acquirersystem, or another system.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating an exemplary environment in whichembodiments of the present invention may be implemented.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating an exemplary computer system uponwhich embodiments of the present invention may be implemented.

FIG. 3 is block diagram illustrating, at a high level, a system forprocessing transactions utilizing a mobile electronic device accordingto one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram illustrating additional details of the systemof FIG. 3 according to one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram illustrating components of an exemplary pointof sale device that may be used with various embodiments of the presentinvention.

FIG. 6 is a block diagram illustrating components of an exemplary mobiledevice that may be used in various embodiments of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart illustrating a process for a mobile commercegateway according to one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a block diagram illustrating elements of a mobile commercesystem for enrollment and/or registration of a customer or deviceaccording to one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 9 is a flowchart illustrating a process for enrollment and/orregistration of a customer or device in a mobile commerce systemaccording to one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 10 is a block diagram illustrating elements of a mobile commercesystem for provisioning a mobile wallet according to one embodiment ofthe present invention.

FIG. 11 is a flowchart illustrating a process for mobile walletprovisioning according to one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 12 is a block diagram illustrating elements of a mobile commercesystem for performing account information lookup according to oneembodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 13 is a flowchart illustrating a process for performing accountinformation lookup according to one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 14 is a block diagram illustrating elements of a mobile commercesystem for providing marketing messages according to one embodiment ofthe present invention.

FIG. 15 is a flowchart illustrating a process for providing marketingmessages in a mobile commerce system according to one embodiment of thepresent invention.

FIG. 16 is a block diagram illustrating elements of a mobile commercesystem for handling payment transactions according to one embodiment ofthe present invention.

FIG. 17 is a flowchart illustrating a process for handling paymenttransactions according to one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 18 is a block diagram illustrating elements of a mobile commercesystem for handling payments or transfers between mobile devicesaccording to one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 19 is a flowchart illustrating a process for handling payments ortransfers between mobile devices according to one embodiment of thepresent invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

In the following description, for the purposes of explanation, numerousspecific details are set forth in order to provide a thoroughunderstanding of the present invention. It will be apparent, however, toone skilled in the art that the present invention may be practicedwithout some of these specific details. In other instances, well-knownstructures and devices are shown in block diagram form.

Embodiments of the invention provide methods and systems for processingvarious financial transactions initiated by or otherwise involving useof a contactless or mobile device. In some such embodiments, theprocesses are executed by an entity on behalf of one or more clientorganizations. The description below sometimes provides illustrationsthat use an example where a client organization is a financialinstitution, but there is no such requirement for the invention and themethods are intended also to be applicable to other types oforganizations that make use of large collections of data. For example,embodiments of the invention may also be used for managing health-caredocuments or information.

The description herein sometimes refers to “clients” and to “customers.”Reference to “clients” is intended to refer to persons, i.e.individuals, entities, or their agents, on whose behalf a set ofinformation is managed. Reference to “customers” or “consumer” isintended to refer to persons, i.e. individuals, entities, or theiragents, who are the subject of or related to that information. Thus,merely for purposes of illustration, in the case where the informationcomprises credit-card account records for a credit card issued to Mr.Jones by Bank A, Bank A corresponds to a client and Mr. Jonescorresponds to a customer or consumer.

In describing embodiments of the invention, reference is sometimes madeto other terms having specific intended meanings. For example, as usedherein, the term “acquirer” is used to refer to a business entity thathas a business relationship with a merchant, one or more financialinstitutions, and other entities and handles credit card and/or otherfinancial transactions for and/or involving those entities. In such acontext, an “acquirer system” is a system operated by an acquirer thatprocesses and authorizes credit card and/or other transactions. Acquirersystems can include those operated by credit card processing entities,such as First Data Corporation, Greenwood Village, Colo. However,embodiments of the present invention are not limited to such financialservices or payment processing. Thus, an acquirer system can beconsidered to be any system capable of receiving a communication fromanother system or entity and processing information on behalf of thatentity.

The term “carrier” refers to a provider of a network and/or service foruse by a mobile device. For example, a carrier can include, but is notlimited to, a provider of a cellular or other wireless communicationsservice for use by a mobile device. The terms “carrier” and “serviceprovider” are used interchangeably herein and are intended to besynonymous. Similarly, the terms carrier network and service providernetwork are used interchangeably herein and are intended to besynonymous.

An “electronic receipt” refers to a receipt for payment of goods orservices that can be created for and relate to one or more transactions.An electronic receipt can include information related to thetransaction(s) and may be electronically transferred to the user'smobile device. According to one embodiment, electronic receipts can bestored in a mobile wallet of the mobile device.

The term “mobile device” is used herein to refer to any small, likelyhandheld, electronic device that can be used to initiate or otherwiseparticipate in a financial transaction. For example, a mobile device caninclude, but is not limited to, a cellular telephone, a Personal DigitalAssistant (PDA), a smart card or other contactless device, etc.Exemplary devices that may be adapted for use as mobile devices invarious embodiments of the present invention are described in co-pendingand commonly assigned U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/672,417entitled “Contactless Electronic Wallet Payment Device” filed on Feb. 7,2007; U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/551,063 entitled “PresentationInstrument with Non-Financial Functionality” filed on Oct. 19, 2006; andU.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 60/833,022 entitled “MobilePayment Device with Magnetic Stripe” filed on Jul. 24, 2006, each ofwhich is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety for allpurposes. As used herein, the terms mobile device and contactless deviceare intended to be synonymous.

A “mobile wallet” or “mobile wallet application” refers to a clientsoftware application that can reside on and/or be executed by a mobiledevice. According to one embodiment, the mobile wallet application canbe adapted to store payment vehicle information. In some cases, themobile wallet can allow storage of multiple payment vehicles and canprovide a user interface that can be used to select a specific paymentvehicle. Additionally, the mobile wallet can be adapted to providesecurity to deter fraudulent and unauthorized use of the paymentvehicles. The terms mobile wallet and mobile wallet application are usedinterchangeably herein and are intended to be synonymous.

A “mobile wallet server” is a server and/or server-side processcommunicating with and supporting functions of a mobile walletapplication. For example, functions that can be performed by the mobilewallet server can include but are not limited to downloading andinstalling the mobile wallet application, updating balance informationfor the accounts stored therein, performing or facilitating varioustransfers between those accounts, viewing transaction histories for theaccounts, providing marketing messages, e.g., coupons andadvertisements, redeeming coupons, etc.

“Near Field Communication” (NFC) refers to short range (20 cm or less)wireless technology used to facilitate communication between electronicdevices in close proximity. For example, embodiments of the presentinvention provide for the use of NFC and/or other relatively short rangecommunications between a mobile device and a POS device such as when auser of the mobile device scans or waves the mobile device in front ofor near the POS device when paying for goods or services.

A “payment network” refers herein to an infrastructure that supports theexchange of data in implementing payment transactions. It is anticipatedthat the data exchange typically proceeds between merchants andfinancial institutions. Examples of existing commercial networks thatare included within the definition of “payment network” include theSTAR/MAC network, the NYCE® network, the VISA® network, and theMasterCard® network. Access to a network by a consumer can be achievedthrough entry of a secret code, such as a personal identification number(“PIN”), in combination with data extracted from the mobile device. Insome embodiments, a signature of the consumer may be used in lieu of asecret code. In some instances, particularly in support of transactionshaving a low value, a consumer might be permitted access to the paymentnetwork with only information extracted from the mobile device, withoutthe need to provide a PIN or signature.

The term “payment vehicle” is used herein to refer to a method ofpayment. For example, payment vehicles can include, but are not limitedto, credit, debit, stored-value, and other types of accounts. In someembodiments, a payment vehicle can include loyalty points or other valueaccumulated, for example, under a loyalty program.

A “point-of-sale device” or “POS device” refers herein to any physicaldevice situated at a location where a consumer may provide payment insupport of a transaction. Such physical locations are typically merchantlocations, such as where the POS device is operated by a clerk or isavailable for self-operation by the consumers, but may also be in otherlocations. For instance, certain automatic teller machines “ATMs” may beequipped to support transactions for the sale of movie or sporting-eventtickets even remote from the merchant location. Other similar types oftransactions that may be performed with a POS device at a locationremote from the merchant will also be evident to those of skill in theart. In some cases, a personal computer equipped with the appropriatestructure may be used as a POS device even when located on the consumerpremises. Examples of POS devices thus include, without limitation,personal computers, cash registers, and any devices capable of reading amagnetic stripe, an RFID chip, NFC communications, or other informationfrom a mobile device, contactless device, card, etc. Exemplary devicesthat may be adapted for use in various embodiments of the presentinvention are described in the following commonly assigned applications,the entire disclosures of which are incorporated herein by reference forall purposes: U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 60/147,889,entitled “Integrated Point OF Sale Device,” filed Aug. 9, 1999 by RandyJ. Templeton et al.; U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/634,901,entitled “Point of Sale Payment System,” filed Aug. 9, 2000 by Randy J.Templeton et al.; U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/116,689, entitled“Systems and Methods for Performing Transactions at a Point-of-Sale,”filed Apr. 3, 2002 by Earney Stoutenburg et al.; U.S. patent applicationSer. No. 10/116,733, entitled “Systems and Methods for Deploying aPoint-of-Sale System,” filed Apr. 3, 2002 by Earney Stoutenburg et al.;U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/116,686, entitled “Systems andMethods for Utilizing A Point-of-Sale System,” filed Apr. 3, 2002 byEarney Stoutenburg et al.; and U.S. patent application Ser. No.10/116,735, entitled “Systems and Methods for Configuring aPoint-of-Sale System,” filed Apr. 3, 2002 by Earney Stoutenburg.

A “POS processing system” refers to a computational system used bymerchants to control communications between POS devices and paymentnetworks. Such systems may be run internally by merchants, may be run bymerchant consortia, or may be outsourced to service providers indifferent embodiments. Some exemplary POS processing systems which maybe adapted to operate with embodiments of the present invention aredescribed in commonly assigned U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,886,742, 6,827,260 and7,086,584, the complete disclosures of which are herein incorporated byreference.

A “primary account number” or “PAN” refers to a number assigned to anaccount. The PAN is generally assigned by a financial institutionmaintaining the account. In most embodiments, it is anticipated that thePAN will identify an account associated with the wireless device and beincluded as data stored by the memory of the wireless device.Identification of the PAN permits a financial institution that maintainsthe account to make a unique identification of the consumer initiating apayment or other transaction and determine which of potentially severalaccounts is to be used in supporting the transaction.

The terms “real time” or “near real time” are used herein to refer to aprocess or action that occurs within a relatively short time.Importantly, the terms real time and near real time are not intended toimply an immediate or instantaneous results or action. Rather, the termsare used to refer to processes or actions that can be performedrelatively quickly such as within several seconds or minutes.

The term “user” refers to an entity, typically a person, that isassociated with a particular mobile device. Typically, the user is theperson that owns, uses, or leases the mobile device and/or controls thecontent and use of the payment vehicles maintained within the mobilewallet of the device.

The ensuing description provides exemplary embodiments only, and is notintended to limit the scope, applicability, or configuration of thedisclosure. Rather, the ensuing description of the exemplary embodimentswill provide those skilled in the art with an enabling description forimplementing an exemplary embodiment. It being understood that variouschanges may be made in the function and arrangement of elements withoutdeparting from the spirit and scope of the invention as set forth in theappended claims.

Specific details are given in the following description to provide athorough understanding of the embodiments. However, it will beunderstood by one of ordinary skill in the art that the embodiments maybe practiced without these specific details. For example, circuits,systems, networks, processes, and other components may be shown ascomponents in block diagram form in order not to obscure the embodimentsin unnecessary detail. In other instances, well-known circuits,processes, algorithms, structures, and techniques may be shown withoutunnecessary detail in order to avoid obscuring the embodiments.

Also, it is noted that individual embodiments may be described as aprocess which is depicted as a flowchart, a flow diagram, a data flowdiagram, a structure diagram, or a block diagram. Although a flowchartmay describe the operations as a sequential process, many of theoperations can be performed in parallel or concurrently. In addition,the order of the operations may be re-arranged. A process is terminatedwhen its operations are completed, but could have additional steps notincluded in a figure. A process may correspond to a method, a function,a procedure, a subroutine, a subprogram, etc. When a process correspondsto a function, its termination can correspond to a return of thefunction to the calling function or the main function.

The term “machine-readable medium” includes, but is not limited to,portable or fixed storage devices, optical storage devices, wirelesschannels, and various other mediums capable of storing, containing, orcarrying instruction(s) and/or data. A code segment ormachine-executable instructions may represent a procedure, a function, asubprogram, a program, a routine, a subroutine, a module, a softwarepackage, a class, or any combination of instructions, data structures,or program statements. A code segment may be coupled to another codesegment or a hardware circuit by passing and/or receiving information,data, arguments, parameters, or memory contents. Information, arguments,parameters, data, etc. may be passed, forwarded, or transmitted via anysuitable means including memory sharing, message passing, token passing,network transmission, etc.

Furthermore, embodiments may be implemented by hardware, software,firmware, middleware, microcode, hardware description languages, or anycombination thereof. When implemented in software, firmware, middlewareor microcode, the program code or code segments to perform the necessarytasks may be stored in a machine readable medium. One or more processorsmay perform the necessary tasks.

Embodiments of the present invention provide methods, systems, andmachine-readable media for supporting use of mobile devices in varioustypes of financial transactions. Generally speaking, a mobile devicesuch as a cell phone, PDA, MP3 player, or other device can be adapted tomaintain account information related to one or more financial accounts.For example, information such as a bank name, account number, accounttype, etc can be maintained in the device in and/or accessible by amobile wallet. In other cases, identifying information other than anaccount number may be stored in or by the mobile wallet. For example,rather than storing an account number, the mobile wallet may store orgenerate a unique identifier for use by other systems in identifying oneor more accounts associated with the mobile wallet. As will be seen, themobile wallet and other elements described herein can allow the user ofthe mobile device to use the account information stored therein to makepurchases, receive and maintain receipts or other records oftransactions, look up account balances, transfer balances, etc.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating an exemplary environment in whichembodiments of the present invention may be implemented. In thisexample, the system can include one or more server computers 105, 110,115 which can be general purpose computers and/or specialized servercomputers (including, merely by way of example, PC servers, UNIXservers, mid-range servers, mainframe computers rack-mounted servers,etc.). One or more of the servers (e.g., 130) may be dedicated torunning applications, such as a business application, a web server,application server, etc. Such servers may be used to execute a pluralityof processes related to financial transactions of one or more consumerson behalf of one or more client financial institutions. For example, oneor more of the servers 105, 110, 115 may execute one or more processesfor recording transactions on a credit card issued to the consumer bythe financial institution. Other processes may provide for paying amerchant for the consumer's purchase, billing the consumer, etc. Theapplications can also include any number of applications for controllingaccess to resources of the servers 105, 110, 115.

In some embodiments, the system 100 may also include a network 115. Thenetwork may can be any type of network familiar to those skilled in theart that can support data communications using any of a variety ofcommercially-available protocols, including without limitation TCP/IP,SNA, IPX, AppleTalk, and the like. Merely by way of example, the network115 maybe a local area network (“LAN”), such as an Ethernet network, aToken-Ring network and/or the like; a wide-area network; a virtualnetwork, including without limitation a virtual private network (“VPN”);the Internet; an intranet; an extranet; a public switched telephonenetwork (“PSTN”); an infra-red network; a wireless network (e.g., anetwork operating under any of the IEEE 802.11 suite of protocols, theBluetooth protocol known in the art, and/or any other wirelessprotocol); and/or any combination of these and/or other networks such asGSM, GPRS, EDGE, UMTS, 3G, 2.5 G, CDMA, CDMA2000, WCDMA, EVDO etc.

The system 100 can include one or more user computers which may be usedto operate a client, whether a dedicate application, web browser, etc.For example, the user computers can include a client system 125 operatedby a client financial institution, a customer system 130 operated by acustomer or consumer, a merchant system 135 operated by a merchant orvendor, etc. The user computers 125, 130, 135 can be general purposepersonal computers (including, merely by way of example, personalcomputers and/or laptop computers running various versions of MicrosoftCorp.'s Windows and/or Apple Corp.'s Macintosh operating systems) and/orworkstation computers running any of a variety of commercially-availableUNIX or UNIX-like operating systems (including without limitation, thevariety of GNU/Linux operating systems). These user computers 125, 130,135 may also have any of a variety of applications, including one ormore development systems, database client and/or server applications,and web browser applications. Alternatively, the user computers 125,130, 135 may be any other electronic device, such as a thin-clientcomputer, Internet-enabled mobile telephone, and/or personal digitalassistant, capable of communicating via a network (e.g., the network 115described below) and/or displaying and navigating web pages or othertypes of electronic documents. Although the exemplary system 100 isshown with three user computers, any number of user computers may besupported.

The system 100 may also include one or more databases or repositories ofenabling data 145. The database(s) of enabling data 145 may reside in avariety of locations. By way of example, a database 145 may reside on astorage medium local to (and/or resident in) one or more of thecomputers 105, 110, 115, 125, 130. Alternatively, it may be remote fromany or all of the computers 105, 110, 115, 125, 130, and/or incommunication (e.g., via the network 120) with one or more of these. Ina particular set of embodiments, the database 145 may reside in astorage-area network (“SAN”) familiar to those skilled in the art.Similarly, any necessary files for performing the functions attributedto the computers 105, 110, 115, 125, 130 may be stored locally on therespective computer and/or remotely, as appropriate. In one set ofembodiments, the database 145 may be a relational database that isadapted to store, update, and retrieve data in response to SQL-formattedcommands. The repository of enabling data 145 can include a wide varietyof information related to financial transactions related to the consumerand/or specified by different entities such as merchants, financialinstitutions, third-party advertisers, etc.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating an exemplary computer system uponwhich various elements of the exemplary environment illustrated in FIG.1 may be implemented. The computer system 200 is shown comprisinghardware elements that may be electrically coupled via a bus 255. Thehardware elements may include one or more central processing units(CPUs) 205; one or more input devices 210 (e.g., a scan device, a mouse,a keyboard, etc.); and one or more output devices 215 (e.g., a displaydevice, a printer, etc.). The computer system 200 may also include oneor more storage device 220. By way of example, storage device(s) 220 maybe disk drives, optical storage devices, solid-state storage device suchas a random access memory (“RAM”) and/or a read-only memory (“ROM”),which can be programmable, flash-updateable and/or the like.

The computer system 200 may additionally include a computer-readablestorage media reader 225; a communications system 230 (e.g., a modem, anetwork card (wireless or wired), an infra-red communication device,etc.); and working memory 240, which may include RAM and ROM devices asdescribed above communicatively coupled with and readable by CPU(s) 205.In some embodiments, the computer system 200 may also include aprocessing acceleration unit 235, which can include a DSP, aspecial-purpose processor and/or the like.

The computer-readable storage media reader 225 can further be connectedto a computer-readable storage medium, together (and, optionally, incombination with storage device(s) 220) comprehensively representingremote, local, fixed, and/or removable storage devices plus storagemedia for temporarily and/or more permanently containingcomputer-readable information. The communications system 230 may permitdata to be exchanged with a network and/or any other computer or othertype of device.

The computer system 200 may also comprise software elements, shown asbeing currently located within a working memory 240, including anoperating system 245 and/or other code 250, such as an applicationprogram. The application programs may implement the methods of theinvention as described herein. It should be appreciated that alternateembodiments of a computer system 200 may have numerous variations fromthat described above. For example, customized hardware might also beused and/or particular elements might be implemented in hardware,software (including portable software, such as applets), or both.Further, connection to other computing devices such as networkinput/output devices may be employed.

FIG. 3 is block diagram illustrating, at a high level, a system forprocessing transactions utilizing a mobile electronic device accordingto one embodiment of the present invention. Traditionally, a credit cardmay be issued to a customer by a financial institution such as a bankand typically displays a logo for an association that implements rulesthat govern aspects of use of the card. Account information is usuallyprinted on the face of the card, specifying an account number and nameof an authorized holder of the card. This information is also storedtogether with additional information on a magnetic stripe that isusually affixed to the back of the card. When the cardholder wishes toexecute a transaction, such as a financial transaction for the purchaseof goods and/or services, he presents the card 320 to a clerk at amerchant location, who swipes the card through a magnetic-stripe readercomprised by a point-of-sale device 308. Multiple point-of-sale devices308-310 may have been provided at a variety of locations by an acquirer,who acts as an intermediary between merchants and the issuer financialinstitutions. As an intermediary, the acquirer coordinates transactionrouting and performs a variety of backend processes.

The point-of-sale device 308 typically initiates a connection to anacquirer system 312 through a network 304 such as the Internet oranother network as described above. A packet of information thatincludes information read from the magnetic stripe of the card 320, amerchant identifier, the date, and transaction amount are forwarded bythe point-of-sale device 308 through the network 304 to the acquirersystem 312. The acquirer system 312 may store some of the informationand send an authorization request, via financial network 313, to theissuing financial institution 316, which may be identified from aportion of the account number read from the magnetic stripe. Thetransaction is authorized or denied depending on such factors as thevalidity of the cardholder name, the validity of the card number, thelevel of available credit in comparison with the transaction amount, andthe like. If authorized, an authorization code is routed back throughthe acquirer system 312, which captures additional information andforwards the authorization code back to the originating point-of-saledevice 308 so that the transaction may be completed. Periodically, suchas at the end of every day, the transactions are settled by the acquirerinitiating funds transfers that fund merchant bank accounts with totaltransaction amounts that may have resulted from multiple transactions bymultiple customers.

Other types of accounts may operate with similar structures, althoughthe details for each type of account are different. For example, use ofa debit account typically requires that the customer provide a personalidentification number (“PIN”), which must be validated before anyauthorization for the transaction can be provided. Authorization usuallydepends on the current level of funds actually in the identified accountrather than on a credit level, and funds transfer is usually executedsubstantially contemporaneously with providing the authorization ratherthan performing periodic settlement. Other types of accounts may usearrangements that have similar differences in their particulars.

According to one embodiment, a mobile device 324 may be used in additionto or instead of a card or other token representing an account. Here,the mobile device 324 is shown for exemplary purposes in the form of acellular telephone. However, as noted above, the mobile device 324 maybe any of a variety of different mobile devices including but notlimited to a PDA, MP3 player, etc. The mobile device 324 may communicateaccording to its normal wireless protocols with a service providersystem 330 via an existing network of relay stations 325. In addition,the mobile device 324 may communicate wirelessly with point-of-saledevices 314 that have been equipped for wireless communications, such asthrough an NFC connection.

According to one embodiment and as will be discussed in greater detailbelow, the mobile device 324 can store and/or execute a mobile walletapplication adapted to maintain account numbers and/or other informationrelated to one or more financial accounts such as credit accounts, debitaccounts, demand deposit accounts, stored value accounts, etc.maintained by one or more financial institutions 316-318. The mobiledevice 324, for example via the mobile wallet application, may allow theuser to review accounts that are stored or identified in the mobiledevice 324 and select an account for a particular transaction such as apurchase. Upon selection of an account for use in the transaction, theuser of the mobile device can scan or swipe the device 324 in front ofor near the POS device 310 causing the information related to theselected account to be read from the mobile device 324 via the NFCconnection.

The information regarding the selected account can identify the accountto be used in supporting transactions, for example, including anindication of the financial institution 316 where that account ismaintained, an account number, etc. Such identifications mayconveniently be made with numerical strings similar to card numbers thathave portions that identify a financial institution and portions thatidentify specific accounts. Additional information may include ownershipdetails of the account, current balance levels for the account, and thelike.

The point-of-sale device 308 typically initiates a connection to anacquirer system 312 through a network 304 such as the Internet oranother network as described above. A packet of information thatincludes information read from the mobile device 324, a merchantidentifier, the date, and transaction amount are forwarded by thepoint-of-sale device 310 through the network 304 to the acquirer system312. The acquirer system 312 may store some of the information and sendan authorization request, via financial network 313, to the issuingfinancial institution 318, which may be identified from a portion of theaccount number read from the mobile device 324. The transaction isauthorized or denied depending on such factors as the validity of theaccount holder name, the validity of the account number, the level ofavailable credit in comparison with the transaction amount, and thelike. If authorized, an authorization code is routed back through theacquirer system 312, which captures additional information and forwardsthe authorization code back to the originating point-of-sale device 310so that the transaction may be completed.

As will be seen, the mobile wallet and/or other applications of themobile device may be used to initiate and/or perform other mobilecommerce functions. For example, the mobile wallet and other elementsdescribed herein can allow the user of the mobile device to use thedevice to make purchases, receive and maintain receipts or other recordsof transactions, look up account balances, transfer balances, etc. Asnoted above, embodiments described herein provide for the use mobiledevices operating different mobile wallet applications on devicesoperating on different carrier networks. Additionally, embodiments ofthe present invention can be used to interact with a wide variety ofother systems such as financial institutions, payment networks,advertisers, and other content providers.

The system can also include a mobile wallet server 335 communicativelycoupled with the service provider system 330 and/or the acquirer system312. As will be described in detail below, the mobile wallet server 335can communicate with the mobile device 324, for example via the serviceprovider network 325 and supporting functions of the mobile walletapplication. For example, functions that can be performed by the mobilewallet server can include but are not limited to downloading andinstalling the mobile wallet application, updating balance informationfor the accounts stored therein, performing or facilitating varioustransfers between those accounts, viewing transaction histories for theaccounts, providing marketing messages, e.g., coupons andadvertisements, redeeming coupons, etc.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram illustrating additional details of the systemof FIG. 3 according to one embodiment of the present invention. In thisexample, the system 400 includes a mobile device 324 such as describedabove. The mobile device 324 can include a Near Field Communications(NFC) transponder 407 and can execute a mobile wallet application 408.The mobile device 324 can be adapted to maintain at least one set ofinformation related to a financial account in the mobile wallet 408 andcommunicate at least a subset of the information related to thefinancial account via the NFC transponder 407 upon initiation of atransaction such as a purchase. In some cases, the mobile wallet 408 ofthe mobile device 324 can maintain information related to a plurality offinancial accounts such as, for example, debit accounts, demand depositaccounts, stored value accounts, loyalty accounts under a customerloyalty program, etc. In such cases, the mobile wallet 408 of the mobiledevice 324 can be adapted to present the plurality of financial accountsto a user of the mobile device 324 and receive a selection of afinancial account for the transaction. The mobile device 324 can also beadapted to communicate at least a subset of the information related tothe selected financial account via the NFC transponder 407 uponinitiation of the transaction.

So, for example, the user of the mobile device 324 can scroll through orotherwise navigate a user interface of the mobile device 324 to selectan account for which identifying information is stored in or by themobile wallet 408. The information can include, for example, an accountnumber, an account name, an account type, a bank name, and/or otherinformation such as, for example, may be typically encoded on a magneticstripe of a card. In other cases, the mobile wallet and/or otherapplications of the mobile device may be used to initiate and/or performother mobile commerce functions. For example, the mobile wallet andother elements described herein can allow the user of the mobile deviceto use the device to make purchases, receive and maintain receipts orother records of transactions, look up account balances, transferbalances, etc. Once selected, the user can then use the account toperform a transaction such as making a purchase, transferring an accountbalance, looking up an account balance, viewing a transaction history,etc. In the case where the user is making a purchase, from a merchant405, the user can use the selected account to pay for the purchase byswiping or passing the mobile device 324 in front of or near an NFCequipped point of sale device 310 provided by the merchant 405.

The point of sale device 310 can also include an NFC transponder 406.The point of sale device 310 can be adapted to receive the informationrelated to the financial account from the mobile device 324 via the NFCtransponder 406 and send a communication related to the transaction thatincludes the information related to the financial account. For example,in the case of a consumer making a purchase using a credit, debit,stored value, or other account, the request can be a request toauthorize the transaction.

A mobile commerce gateway 415 can be adapted to receive thecommunication related to the transaction from the point of sale device310 of the merchant system 405 and route the communication for handlingof the transaction based on the information related to the financialaccount. That is, the acquirer systems 312 can include a plurality ofsystems 415-435 adapted to perform functions related to various types offinancial transaction. For example, the acquirer systems 315 can includebut are not limited to a payments system 425 adapted to communicate withfinancial institutions 316-318 maintaining the financial account andauthorize the transaction based on the communication with the financialinstitution as described above. The acquirer systems 312 can alsoinclude an enrollment system 420 adapted to register or enroll themobile device 324 for use with the system 400. A loyalty system 421 canbe adapted to maintain a loyalty account under a customer loyaltyprogram. A stored value system and/or prepaid system 430 can be adaptedto maintain a stored value account. The mobile commerce gateway 415 canbe adapted to route communications to the plurality of acquirer systems312 based at least in part on a transaction type. As can be understoodby one skilled in the art, the mobile commerce gateway 415, whileillustrated here as a single element, may comprise multiple systems ordevices. Additionally or alternatively, various elements of the system400 shown here as communicatively coupled with the mobile commercegateway 415 may, in various implementations, be coupled with the mobilecommerce gateway 415 via various other portals, front-ends, gateways,etc. In yet other implementations, the mobile commerce gateway 415 maybe excluded from the system 400 or may not be utilized by some of theelements. In such cases, various elements of the system 400 such as aPOS device 310, mobile wallet server 335, etc may interface with one ormore of the acquirer systems 312 other than the mobile commerce gateway415.

The system 400 can also include a service provider system 330communicatively coupled with the mobile device 324, for example via acellular or other wireless network. A mobile wallet server 335 can becommunicatively coupled with the service provider system 330 and themobile commerce gateway 415. The mobile wallet server 335 can be adaptedto interact with the mobile wallet 408 of the mobile device 324 via theservice provider system 330. For example, the mobile wallet server 335can interact with the mobile wallet 408 of the mobile device 324 toprovide functions related to maintenance of the mobile wallet 408. Inanother example, the mobile wallet server can interact with the mobilewallet of the mobile device to provide functions related to maintenanceof the information related to the financial account. In other words,functions that can be performed by the mobile wallet server 335 throughthe service provider system 330, for example over the cellular or otherwireless network, can include but are not limited to downloading andinstalling the mobile wallet application, updating balance informationfor the accounts stored therein, performing various transfers betweenthose accounts, viewing transaction histories for the accounts,providing marketing messages, e.g., coupons and advertisements,redeeming coupons, etc. In some cases, depending upon the functions tobe performed, the mobile wallet server 335 may make requests to themobile commerce gateway 415. For example, in the case of determining abalance for a credit account, the mobile wallet server 335 may make arequest to the mobile commerce gateway 415. Such a request can be routedby the mobile commerce gateway 415 to a payments system 312 or otheracquirer system 312 which in turn makes a request to an issuingfinancial institution 316. It should be understood by one skilled in theart that the mobile wallet server may be implemented in various ways andoperated by various entities. For example, the mobile wallet server 335may be operated by the mobile service provider 330 and may beimplemented as part of the systems operating the mobile network. Inother cases, the mobile wallet server 335 may be operated by an acquirerand may be implemented as part of the acquirer systems 312.

Therefore, the gateway 415 can provide a common point or front-endthrough which other elements of the system 400 can interact with thevarious other acquirer systems 312. Stated another way, the gateway 415can receive a communication, for example, related to a function of themobile wallet application 408 of a mobile device 324. Receiving thecommunication can comprise receiving the communication from the mobilewallet server 335, from the merchant system 405, from the point-of-saledevice 310, or from another acquirer system 312. One or more of theacquirer systems 312 for handling of the communication can be identifiedbased on the function of the mobile wallet application 324 to which thecommunication relates. For example, the function can comprise a paymentfunction, an account information lookup function, a registrationfunction, a marketing function, a provisioning function, or anotherfunction. The communication can be routed by the gateway 415 to theidentified one or more acquirer systems for handling of thecommunication. However, it is not required that all communicationsbetween elements of the system be routed or passed through the gateway415. For example, the embodiment illustrated in FIG. 4 includes areporting system or module 435 of the acquirer systems 312 that can beadapted to collect information on and generate reports of varioustransactions, users, etc. The reporting system 435 can becommunicatively coupled with the service provider system 330, themerchant system 405 and/or other systems but without passing through orbeing routed by the gateway 415.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram illustrating components of an exemplary pointof sale device that may be used with various embodiments of the presentinvention. Operations performed by the point-of-sale device 310 aregenerally coordinated by a controller 504, which is provided inelectrical communication with a number of components. For example, thecontroller 504 can comprise a microprocessor or other computing deviceexecuting software stored, for example, in memory 508. Components withwhich the controller 504 is coupled can include an antenna 512 fortransmitting and receiving electromagnetic signals and an NFC module 516that provides instructions for implementing a communications protocol,such as an NFC protocol. The NFC module 516 performs a more active rolethan the antenna 512, determining what electromagnetic signals totransmit over the antenna 512 and/or interpreting electromagneticsignals that are received by the antenna 512. A port may be provided topermit the exchange of wired communications with the point-of-saledevice 504, one example of the port being a TCP/IP port 520 that enablesthe point-of-sale device 504 to engage in Internet communications. Aprinter 524 interfaced with the controller 504 permits receipts andother documents to be printed by the point-of-sale device 504.

FIG. 6 is a block diagram illustrating components of an exemplary mobiledevice that may be used with various embodiments of the presentinvention. The mobile device 324 includes a controller 640 which cancomprise a microprocessor or other computing device executing softwarestored, for example, in memory 644 for coordinating the functions of avariety of components. Several of the components that may be controlledby the controller 640 include components used for standard functionalityof the mobile device 324. For instance, in embodiments where the mobiledevice 324 is a cellular telephone, the controller may be interfacedwith a microphone 652, a speaker 656, and an antenna 648. The microphone652 and speaker 656 may be used to receive and amplify voice signalsthat are exchanged by users of the cellular telephone. The antenna 648may be used to transmit and receive electromagnetic signals thatcorrespond to encoded versions of the voice signals being exchanged.

Other components may include a global positioning system 660 that may beused to locate a position of the wireless device. Such a globalpositioning system 660 functions by transmitting an electromagneticsignal to an orbiting satellite that identifies a relative location ofthe source of the signal and correlates that relative position with ageographical map of a region of the Earth. An NFC module 668 may also beprovided to encode and decode transmissions sent and receivedelectromagnetically with the point of sale device as discussed above.Because transmissions involving the account information includesensitive financial data such as account numbers, a cryptography module672 may also be provided to allow encryption of data sent and receivedby the mobile device 324 via the NFC module 668.

According to one embodiment, the mobile device 324 can also include amobile wallet module or application 676. The mobile wallet 676 can beadapted to store payment vehicle information, i.e., informationidentifying one or more financial accounts such as credit accounts,debit accounts, demand deposit accounts, stored value accounts, etc. Insome cases, the mobile wallet 676 can allow storage of multiple paymentvehicles and can provide a user interface that can be displayed on ascreen or display device 680 and through which the user can select aspecific payment vehicle by manipulating a keypad, wheel, touch screen,or other input device 682. The mobile device 324, for example via themobile wallet application 676, may allow the user to review accountsthat are stored in the memory 644 of the mobile device 324 and select anaccount for a particular transaction such as a purchase. Upon selectionof an account for use in the transaction, the user of the mobile device324 can scan or swipe the device 624 in front of or near the POS devicecausing some or all of the information identifying the selected accountto be read from the mobile device 324 via the NFC connection module 668.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart illustrating a process for a mobile commercegateway according to one embodiment of the present invention. In thisexample, the process begins with receiving 705 a communication relatedto a function of a mobile wallet application of a mobile device. Asnoted above, receiving 705 the communication can comprise receiving thecommunication from a mobile wallet server, from a merchant system, froma point-of-sale device, or from an acquirer system. One or more of aplurality of acquirer systems for handling of the communication can beidentified 710 based on the function of the mobile wallet application towhich the communication relates. For example, the function can comprisea payment function, an account information lookup function, aregistration function, a marketing function, a provisioning function, oranother function. The communication or information from thecommunication can be routed 715 to the identified one or more acquirersystems for handling of the communication. In some cases, a reply to thecommunication can be received 720 from at least one of the identifiedone or more acquirer systems and the reply can be sent 725 to arecipient. Sending 725 the reply to the recipient can comprise sendingthe reply to a mobile wallet server, a merchant system, a point-of-saledevice, an acquirer system, or another system based on, for example, thetype of function, information from the communication or the reply, orbased on another criteria.

FIG. 8 is a block diagram illustrating elements of a mobile commercesystem for enrollment and/or registration of a customer or deviceaccording to one embodiment of the present invention. According to oneembodiment, a user 801 or consumer can enroll in a mobile commerceprogram via a web-based process of an enrollment server that can beprovided as part of a service provider system 330, an acquirer system312, via a participating bank or other financial institution website805, or other entity or combination thereof.

For example, the user 801 can, via log in process 810, access a mobilebanking website or web service 815 such as provided by a participatingbank or other financial institution. If the user 801 is a customer of aparticipating bank, the user 801 can begin the registration process atthe bank's website 815, for example, by clicking on a hot-link to aservice provider such as a wireless service provider for the user'smobile device. This action can cause the user 801 to be redirected tothe service provider system 330 and/or can initiate a communicationbetween the bank and the service provider system 330 though whichenrollment information can be exchanged.

The service provider system 330 can include a registration process 820or module for determining whether to allow registration of the userand/or the device and to possibly provide opportunities for the user topurchase or upgrade his service if it does not currently qualify for usewith the mobile commerce system. For example, if the consumer 801 is nota current customer of the service provider, the user can be given theopportunity to purchase a plan and possibly a mobile device. For acurrent customer of the service provider, a validation can be conductedto determine whether the mobile wallet can be provisioned to the user'smobile device, i.e., whether the device qualifies or is suitable for usewith the mobile wallet application. For example, the user may be queriedby the registration process 820 as to what device will be used.Alternatively, the service provider system may maintain an indication ofthe current device of the user. The indicated device can be compared toa list of approved or acceptable devices for use with the systemmaintained or accessible by the registration process 820. Additionallyor alternatively, a validation can be conducted to determine whether thecustomer's data plan qualifies. That is, an indication of the user'scurrent data plan can be received from the user or read from informationmaintained by the service provider. This information can be compared toa list of approved plans that are indicated to be acceptable for usewith the system. A plan can be deemed acceptable based on any of anumber of criteria such as available data transfer rates or limits,contractual limitations of the service, or any other technical orbusiness criteria. If the plan is determined to not be acceptable foruse with the system, the user can be given the opportunity to purchaseone or upgrade the current plan.

Upon validation, purchase, and/or upgrade of the user's device and/orplan, the user 801 can be redirected or transferred to an acquirersystem 312 such as an enrollment host 420 via a hot-link or via otherprogrammatic means (i.e., a button). According to one embodiment, theservice provider system 330 can provide to the acquirer system 312, forexample via the gateway 415 as described above, a data set consisting ofenrollment data collected from the user. Such enrollment data caninclude but is not limited to name, cellular number, mobile device type,etc. The registration information can be stored by the service providersystem 330 and/or the acquirer system 312 for later use.

The user 801 can be given additional details about the program in whichthey are enrolling by the acquirer system 312. Additionally oralternatively, participating merchants may have marketing messages andoffers on the site. In some cases, the user 801 may be asked to “opt-in”or “opt-out” to receive such marketing messages. Additionally oralternatively, through the acquirer system 312, the consumer 801 canreview and edit their registration data and/or preferences, registertheir prepaid cards (e.g., with participating merchants), and/or performother functions.

Stated another way, the mobile commerce system can comprise a mobiledevice and a service provider system 330 adapted to receive aregistration request from a user of the mobile device. For example, theservice provider system 330 can be adapted to receive the registrationrequest from the user 801 of the mobile device via a web service 815 ofa financial institution 805. In another example, the service providersystem 330 can be adapted to provide a registration web service 820. Insuch a case, receiving the registration request from the user 801 of themobile device can comprise receiving the registration request via theregistration web service 820 of the service provider system 330.

The service provider system 330 can be adapted, for example via theregistration service or process 820, to determine whether to allowregistration of the mobile device. For example, the service providersystem 330 can determine whether to allow registration of the mobiledevice by determining whether the user of the mobile device is a currentwireless service subscriber. Additionally or alternatively, the serviceprovider system 330 can determine whether to allow registration of themobile device by determining whether the mobile device qualifies for usein the mobile commerce system. Additionally or alternatively, theservice provider system 330 can determine whether to allow registrationof the mobile device by determining whether a data service plan of theuser of the mobile device qualifies for use in the mobile commercesystem. As noted above, at any point during this process, if adetermination is made that the user's device or plan does not qualifyfor use in the mobile commerce system, the user may be givenopportunities to purchase or upgrade the device and/or plan in order toqualify.

The system can also include an acquirer system 312 communicativelycoupled with the service provider system 330, for example via thegateway 415. The service provider system 330 can be further adapted to,in response to determining to allow registration of the mobile device,send the registration information 830 from the service provider system330 to an acquirer system 312. The acquirer system 312, for example theregistration or enrollment host or process 420, can in turn be adaptedto provide user information related to the mobile commerce system.Additionally or alternatively, the acquirer system 312 can be adapted tomaintain a set of personal information of the user. In some cases, theacquirer system 312 can be adapted to maintain a set of user preferencesfor the user. For example, the user preferences can include anindication of whether the user has elected to receive marketingmessages, i.e., opt-in or opt-out preferences. Additionally oralternatively, the acquirer system 312 can be adapted to register one ormore stored value or other accounts of the user for use in the mobilecommerce system.

FIG. 9 is a flowchart illustrating a process for enrollment and/orregistration of a customer or device in a mobile commerce systemaccording to one embodiment of the present invention. In this example,the process begins with receiving 905 a registration request from a userof the mobile device. For example, receiving 905 the registrationrequest from the user of the mobile device can comprise receiving theregistration request at a service provider system from a mobile commerceweb service of a financial institution. In another example, receiving905 the registration request from the user of the mobile device cancomprise receiving the registration request via a web service of theservice provider system.

Determinations 910-930 can be made with the service provider systemwhether to allow registration of the mobile device. Generally speaking,in response to determining 910-930 to allow registration of the mobiledevice, the registration request can be sent 935 from the serviceprovider system to an acquirer system.

More specifically, in this example, determining 910-930 whether to allowregistration of the mobile device can comprise determining 910 whetherthe user of the mobile device is a current wireless service subscriber.In response to determining the user is not a current subscriber, theuser can be given an option 915 to subscribe. If 915 the user chooses tobecome a subscriber, a determination 920 can be made as to whether themobile device qualifies for use in the mobile commerce system. If 920the user's device qualifies, a determination 925 can be made as towhether a data service plan of the user of the mobile device or otherplan, service, package, application, etc., that is deemed appropriate orqualifies for use in the mobile commerce system as designated by thecarrier or service provider. If 925 the data plan or other plan of theuser qualifies, i.e., the plan is designated by the service provider asapplicable to the mobile commerce system based on any of a number oftechnical and/or contractual criteria, the registration information canbe sent 935 to the acquirer systems. If 925 the data service plan of theuser does not qualify, the user can be given an option 930 to purchaseor upgrade to a data plan designated as suitable for the mobile commercesystem. If 930 the user chooses to purchase or upgrade to a qualifyingdata plan, the registration information can be sent 935 to the acquirersystems.

FIG. 10 is a block diagram illustrating elements of a mobile commercesystem for provisioning a mobile wallet according to one embodiment ofthe present invention. According to one embodiment, the acquirer system312 can upload the enrollee's (i.e., the consumer's or registrant's)data 1005 and mobile device specifications to a mobile wallet server 335for example, via the gateway 415 as described above. The mobile walletserver 335, for example via provisioning process 1010, can process thedata and create the mobile wallet or other data to be provisioned to themobile wallet. The mobile wallet server 335 can then provide a link tothe consumer's mobile device 324, for example via a provisioning message1015 such an SMS message or email message, over the service provider'snetwork 325 so that downloading of the wallet may begin. Upon theconsumer accessing the link from the mobile device 324 and/or choosingto download the wallet, a acceptance message 1020 can be sent to themobile wallet server 335. The acceptance message 1020 can include acredential or other information identifying the user of the mobiledevice 324. The mobile wallet server 335 can in turn authenticate theuser based on the acceptance message 1020. Upon authentication of theconsumer, the wallet application or other data 1025 can beuploaded/provisioned from the mobile wallet server 335 to the mobiledevice 324 via the service provider network 325.

Stated another way, a mobile commerce system can comprise a mobiledevice 324 and an acquirer system 312 adapted to provide a set ofregistration information 1005 for the mobile device 324. A mobile walletserver 335 can be communicatively coupled with the acquirer system 312and can be adapted to receive the registration information 1005 for themobile device 324 from the acquirer system 312, determine based on theregistration information 1005 whether the mobile wallet 408 of themobile device 324 has been previously provisioned, and in response todetermining that the mobile wallet 324 of the mobile device 324 has notbeen previously provisioned, create a new mobile wallet for the mobiledevice 324 and send a notification 1015 such as an SMS or email messagefrom the mobile wallet server 335 to the mobile device 324, thenotification 1015 indicating the mobile wallet is available fordownload. The mobile wallet server 335 can be further adapted toretrieve a stored set of previously provisioned mobile walletinformation for the mobile device 324 and send the set of previouslyprovisioned mobile wallet information to the mobile device in responseto determining that the mobile wallet 408 of the mobile device 324 hasbeen previously provisioned. For example, in the event the user needs toreload or re-provision a device, a previously provisioned and savedwallet can be retrieved and provisioned to the device. Once again, anotification message 1015 can be sent to the mobile device 324 toindicate that the data is available for download.

The mobile wallet server 335 can be further adapted to receive aresponse or acceptance message 1020 from the mobile device 324. Themobile wallet server 335 can be adapted to authenticate a user of themobile device 324 based on the response 1020. In response toauthenticating the user of the mobile device 324, the mobile walletserver 335 can download the mobile wallet or other data 1025 to themobile device 324.

FIG. 11 is a flowchart illustrating a process for mobile walletprovisioning according to one embodiment of the present invention. Inthis example, the process can begin with receiving 1105 at a mobilewallet server registration information for the mobile device from anacquirer system. A determination 1110 can be made based on theregistration information as to whether the mobile wallet of the mobiledevice has been previously provisioned. In response to determining 1110that the mobile wallet of the mobile device has been previouslyprovisioned, a stored set of previously provisioned mobile walletinformation for the mobile device can be retrieved 1115 and sent 1140 tothe mobile device from the mobile wallet server.

In response to determining 1110 that the mobile wallet of the mobiledevice has not been previously provisioned, a new mobile wallet can becreated 1120 for the mobile device. A notification can then be sent 1125from the mobile wallet server to the mobile device. The notification cancomprise, for example, a Short Message Service (SMS) message, an emailmessage, or other type of message, and can indicate the mobile wallet isavailable for download. A response can be received 1130 at the mobilewallet server from the mobile device. A user of the mobile device can beauthenticated 1135 based on the response. In response to authenticating1135 the user of the mobile device, the mobile wallet can be downloaded1140 from the mobile wallet server to the mobile device. Downloading1140 the mobile wallet from the mobile wallet server to the mobiledevice can be performed via a wireless communications network such as acellular network.

FIG. 12 is a block diagram illustrating elements of a mobile commercesystem for performing account information lookup according to oneembodiment of the present invention. After enrollment/registration andmobile wallet provisioning are completed as described above, theconsumer can request account information lookup/refresh (for example abalance or transaction history for a registered stored-value account orother account) via the mobile device 324. As illustrated in thisexample, the user can access the mobile wallet 408 on the mobile device324 and executes the account information lookup function 1005. Therequest can be passed to the mobile wallet server 335 via the serviceprovider network 325. According to one embodiment, the request mayinclude an identity credential or other information for authenticatingor otherwise verifying the user and/or device by any or all of theelements of the system. The mobile wallet server 410, for example via anaccount information process or module 1210, can generate and send aninquiry 1215, for example, via the gateway 415 as described above, tothe acquirer system 312 to request a balance or transaction history. Theacquirer system 312 can look up and respond with results 1220 such asbalances, histories, or error codes. The results 1220 can be passed backto the mobile wallet server 335, for example via the gateway 415. Themobile wallet server 335 can in turn update the mobile wallet 408 on themobile device 324 via the service provider network 325.

Stated another way, a mobile commerce system can comprise a wirelesscommunications network 325 such as a cellular network and a mobiledevice 324 communicatively coupled with the wireless communicationsnetwork 325. The mobile device 324 can be adapted to execute a mobilewallet application 408. The mobile wallet application 408 can includeinformation identifying a financial account. The mobile walletapplication 408 can be adapted to request 1205 account information forthe financial account. For example, the account information can comprisean account balance. In another example, the account information cancomprise an account transaction history.

The system can also include an acquirer system 312 adapted to accessaccount information for a plurality of financial accounts and a mobilewallet server 335 communicatively coupled with the wirelesscommunications network 325 and the acquirer system 312. The mobilewallet server 335 can be adapted to receive the request 1205 for theaccount information from the mobile wallet 408 of the mobile device 324via the wireless communications network 325. The request 1205 foraccount information can include information identifying the financialaccount. For example, the information identifying the financial accountcan comprise an account number. In another example, the mobile walletserver 335 can be adapted to determine an account number of thefinancial account based on the information identifying the financialaccount.

The mobile wallet server 335 can send an account inquiry 1215 to theacquirer system 312. In some cases, the account inquiry 1215 can includethe information identifying the financial account. In such cases, theacquirer system 312 can be adapted to determine an account number of thefinancial account based on the information identifying the financialaccount. The mobile wallet server 335 can receive the accountinformation 1220 from the acquirer system 312 and send the accountinformation 1220 to the mobile wallet 408 of the mobile device 324 viathe wireless communications network 325.

FIG. 13 is a flowchart illustrating a process for performing accountinformation lookup according to one embodiment of the present invention.In this example, the process begins with receiving 1305 at a mobilewallet server a request for the account information. For example, theaccount information can comprise an account balance. In another example,the account information can comprise an account transaction history.Receiving 1305 the request for the account information can be performedvia a wireless communications network such as a cellular network.

The request for account information can include information identifyingthe financial account. For example, the information identifying thefinancial account can comprise an account number. In another example, anaccount number of the financial account can be determined based on theinformation identifying the financial account. Thus, the request can betranslated 1310 to determine and indicate the account number and/orplace the request into a format readable by the acquirer system.

An account inquiry can be sent 1315 from the mobile wallet server to anacquirer system. The account information can be received 1320 at themobile wallet server from the acquirer system. The results can betranslated 1325 for delivery to the mobile device. For example,translation can include encrypting the results and/or placing them intoa message such as an SMS, email, or other format message fortransmission and delivery to the mobile device. The results can then besent 1330 from the mobile wallet server to the mobile wallet of themobile device. Sending 1330 the account information from the mobilewallet server to the mobile wallet of the mobile device can be performedvia a wireless communications network such as a cellular network.

FIG. 14 is a block diagram illustrating elements of a mobile commercesystem for providing marketing messages according to one embodiment ofthe present invention. In this example, an acquirer 312 andparticipating merchants 405 (including possibly the provider of themobile communications service, banks, other financial institutions, etc)can create marketing messages via, for example, the acquirer's loyaltyhost as described above. Alternatively, a dedicated marketing managementsystem may be used. These messages can be sent or provisioned to themobile wallet 408 inbox via the mobile wallet server 335, for example asdescribed above with reference to FIGS. 10 and 11, to those registrantswho chose to ‘opt-in’ to mobile marketing from consumer selectedmerchants. These messages may include (but are not limited to) specialoffers, discounts, and other offers to enrollees/participants of thisprogram. Additionally or alternatively, the messages may include newproduct information, commercials, or other messages delivered viastreaming video, audio, text, or in another format.

For example, a participating merchant 405 can create a mobile marketingcampaign by accessing the acquirer system 312, for example via thegateway 415 or a web service, and initiating an enrollment process 1401.The acquirer system 312, for example via a loyalty host, a dedicatedmarketing management system, or other system, can record theregistration information such as identifying information for themerchant, offer information, demographic information indicatingconsumers to which the marketing messages should be directed, andpossibly other information. The acquirer system 312 can deploy themarketing information 1405 to those registrants who selected to ‘opt-in’to this merchant's marketing program via the mobile wallet server 335.The mobile wallet server 335 for example via the provisioning processdescribed above, can provision the marketing message 1405 to the inboxof the mobile wallet 408 on the consumer's mobile device 324 via theservice provider network 325.

Stated another way, a system can comprise a wireless communicationsnetwork 325, such as a cellular network, and a plurality of mobiledevices 324 communicatively coupled with the wireless communicationsnetwork 325. Each mobile device 325 can be adapted to execute a mobilewallet application 408. The system can also include an acquirer system312 adapted to generate a set of information 1405 identifying one ormore marketing offers. A mobile wallet server 335 can be communicativelycoupled with the wireless communications network 325 and the acquirersystem 312. The mobile wallet server 335 can be adapted to receive theset of information 1405 identifying the one or more marketing offersfrom the acquirer system 312, generate one or more marketing messages1405 based on the set of information identifying the one or moremarketing offers, and send each of the one or more marketing messages1405 to the mobile wallet application 408 of one or more mobile devices324 via the wireless communications network 325. For example, themarketing messages 1405 can comprise Short Message Service (SMS)messages, email messages, or other types of messages.

The acquirer system 312 can generate the set of information 1405identifying the one or more marketing offers based on a selection of oneor more predefined marketing offers by a participating merchant 405 orother marketing entity. Additionally or alternatively, the acquirersystem 312 can generate the set of information 1405 identifying the oneor more marketing offers based on information provided to the acquirersystem 312 from a marketing entity such as a merchant 405. In somecases, the acquirer system 312 can be further adapted to determine oneor more recipients for the marketing offers. In such cases, the acquirersystem 312 can be adapted to determine one or more recipients for themarketing offers based at least in part on preference information forthe one or more recipients.

Additionally or alternatively, the mobile wallet server 335 can befurther adapted to determine one or more recipients for the marketingoffers. For example, the mobile wallet server 335 can be adapted todetermine one or more recipients for the marketing offers based at leastin part on the set of information identifying the one or more marketingoffers. Additionally or alternatively, the mobile wallet server 335 canbe adapted to determine one or more recipients for the marketing offersbased at least in part on a preference information for the one or morerecipients, e.g., based on opt-in/opt-out or other preferenceinformation.

FIG. 15 is a flowchart illustrating a process for providing marketingmessages in a mobile commerce system according to one embodiment of thepresent invention. In this example, the process begins with receiving1505 at the acquirer system one or more indications of marketing offersfrom a marketing entity such as a participating merchant. Based on thisinformation, the acquirer system can generate 1510 a set of informationidentifying the one or more marketing offers. Generating 1510 the set ofinformation identifying the one or more marketing offers can be based ona selection of one or more predefined marketing offers by theparticipating merchant or other marketing entity. Additionally oralternatively, generating 1510 the set of information identifying theone or more marketing offers can be based on information provided to theacquirer system from the marketing entity. In some cases, generating1510 the set of information identifying the one or more marketing offerscan comprise determining with the acquirer system one or more recipientsfor the marketing offers. For example, determining one or morerecipients for the marketing offers can be based at least in part on apreference information for the one or more recipients. The set ofinformation identifying the one or more marketing offers can then besent 1515 to the mobile wallet server.

The mobile wallet server can receive 1520 the set of informationidentifying the marketing offers from the acquirer system. The mobilewallet server can the generate 1525 one or more marketing messages basedon the information from the acquirer system. In some cases, generating1525 the marketing messages can comprise determining with the mobilewallet server one or more recipients for the marketing offers. In such acase, determining one or more recipients for the marketing offers can bebased at least in part on the set of information identifying the one ormore marketing offers. Additionally or alternatively, determining one ormore recipients for the marketing offers can be based at least in parton a preference information for the one or more recipients. In anyevent, one or more marketing messages can be generated 1525 by themobile wallet server based on the set of information identifying the oneor more marketing offers. For example, the marketing messages cancomprise Short Message Service (SMS) messages, email messages, audio,video, an executable applet or application, or other types of messages.Each of the one or more marketing messages can be sent 1530 from themobile wallet server to one or more mobile devices.

FIG. 16 is a block diagram illustrating elements of a mobile commercesystem for handling payments according to one embodiment of the presentinvention. As illustrated here, the system can comprise a mobile device324 including a Near Field Communications (NFC) transponder 407 and amobile wallet application 408. The mobile device 324 can be adapted tomaintain at least one set of information related to a financial accountin the mobile wallet 408 and, upon initiation of a transaction such as asale or payment, communicate at least a subset of the informationrelated to the financial account via the NFC transponder 408, forexample to an NFC transponder of a POS device 310 of a merchant system405 as described above. In some cases, the mobile wallet 408 of themobile device 324 can maintain information related to a plurality offinancial accounts such as, for example, debit accounts, demand depositaccounts, stored value accounts, loyalty accounts under a customerloyalty program, etc. In such cases, the mobile wallet 408 of the mobiledevice 324 can be adapted to present the plurality of financial accountsto a user of the mobile device 324 and receive a selection of afinancial account for the transaction. The mobile device 324 can beadapted to communicate at least a subset of the information related tothe selected financial account via the NFC transponder 324 uponinitiation of the transaction. According to one embodiment, thecommunication may include an identity credential or other informationfor authenticating or otherwise verifying the user and/or device by anyor all of the elements of the system.

The POS device 310 can be adapted to receive the information related tothe financial account from the mobile device 324 via the NFC transponder406 and send a communication related to the transaction, i.e., anauthorization request 1605 to the acquirer systems 312. Thecommunication related to the financial transaction can include theinformation related to the financial account. Additionally, the requestmay include any identity credential or other information forauthenticating or otherwise verifying the user and/or device that may beprovided by the mobile device 324.

As noted above, the mobile commerce gateway 415 can be adapted toreceive the authorization request 1605 related to the transaction fromthe point of sale device 310 and route the communication for handling ofthe transaction based on the information related to the financialaccount.

As described above, for example with reference to FIG. 4, the system canalso include a plurality of acquirer systems communicatively coupledwith the mobile commerce gateway 415. Each of the acquirer systems canbe adapted to perform functions related to at least one type offinancial transaction. For example, the acquirer systems 312 can includebut are not limited to a payments system 425 adapted to communicate witha financial institution 316 maintaining the financial account. Thepayment system 425 can be adapted to route the authorization request1605 to the financial institution 316 maintaining the account forauthorization of the transaction. The payment system 425 can receive anapproval message 1610, or conversely a denial message, from thefinancial institution indicating approval or denial of the transaction.The payment system 425 can in turn send the approval message 1610 to thePOS device 310, for example via the gateway 415.

According to one embodiment, the approval message 1610 may comprise anelectronic receipt. That is, the approval message 1610 can includeinformation related to completion of the transaction such as a dollaramount, time, date, payee information, and/or other information usefulto a user of the mobile device 324 to identify, record, and/or track thetransaction. In such a case, the POS device 310 may be adapted toreceive the approval message 1610 from the acquirer system 312 and passthe approval message 1610 to the mobile device 324 via the NFCtransponders 406 and 407 to be stored in or by the mobile wallet 408 ofthe mobile device 324. Alternatively, a separate electronic receipt 1615may be generated by the financial institution 316, the payments system425, or other acquirer system in addition to the approval message 1610provided by the financial institution 316. In such a case, the POSdevice 310 may be adapted to receive the electronic receipt 1615 fromthe acquirer system 312 and pass the electronic receipt 1615 to themobile device 324 via the NFC transponders 406 and 407 to be stored inor by the mobile wallet 408 of the mobile device 324. Additionally oralternatively, the POS device 310 can be adapted to modify an electronicreceipt provided by another system such as one of the acquirer systems.For example, the POS device 310 can be adapted to add transactionspecific information such as items purchased, price per items, etc. tothe receipt. In other implementations, the POS device 310 may generate aseparate electronic receipt that can include information provided to thePOS device 310 via the approval message 1610 or electronic receipt 1615from the acquirer systems as well as transaction specific informationsuch as items purchased, price per items, etc.

Regardless of how or where the electronic receipt is generated, it canbe passed to the mobile wallet of the mobile device via the NFC moduleof the POS device 310, the gateway 415, or other acquirer system 312 viathe mobile wallet server 335 described above, or via another channel.According to one embodiment, the electronic receipt can be provisionedto the mobile device over the air. For instance, a message can be sentfrom the POS device 310 and/or merchant system 405 to the mobile walletserver 335 described above. This message can include an identifieravailable to systems in the chain of creating and providing the receipt.For example, the POS device 310 can acquire the mobile device's uniqueidentifier e.g., phone number, device identifier, device address, etc.via the NFC module of the POS device 310, by input to the POS device 310by the user of the mobile device, or in another manner. Alternatively oradditionally, the gateway or other acquirer system could determine theidentifier for the device, for example from data maintained by anenrollment system 420 as described above. This identifier can then beused to address or identify and route the receipt to the mobile devicevia the mobile wallet server 335 and/or service provider system 330 asdescribed above. In yet another alternative, the receipt may be passedto another device or computer, other than the mobile device. Forexample, based on preference or other information of the user which canbe maintained by the enrollment server 420 or another system, thegateway 415 or other acquirer system can send the send the receipt tothe users personal computer or other device. In such cases, the receiptcan later be synchronized or transferred to the wireless device via aUSB, wireless, or other connection.

Once the mobile wallet has received a receipt, the mobile wallet 408 canalso be adapted to provide an interface for the user of the mobiledevice to later view, delete, or otherwise manage electronic receipts.Additionally or alternatively, the mobile wallet 408 of the mobiledevice 324 can be adapted to sync or transfer the electronic receipts toanother device and/or application such as a spreadsheet or financialmanagement application on the user's personal computer. Additionally oralternatively, the mobile wallet 408 of the mobile device 324 can beadapted to provide the receipt or a copy of the receipt, either througha user interface, via the NFC transponder of the mobile device, or inanother manner. So, for example, the electronic receipt, once in themobile wallet 408 can be used to make returns of merchandise, forexample by the user of the mobile device selecting the receipt from thewallet and swiping or scanning the mobile device near the NFCtransponder of the POS device. The merchant can then use the electronicreceipt to process a return. In such a case, the electronic receipt maycontain encrypted information supplied by the merchant prior to orduring generation of the receipt in order to verify the origin,contents, and/or authenticity of the receipt and prevent tampering withthe contents of the receipt.

It should be noted that, other acquirer systems as described above maybe utilized to authorize a transaction. That is, the second acquirersystems can comprise a payments system 425 as illustrated here. In sucha case, a request for authorization of the transaction can be sent fromthe payment system to a financial institution maintaining the financialaccount. For example, the financial account can comprise a creditaccount and the financial institution can comprise the issuer of thecredit account. In another example, the financial account can comprise adebit account and the financial institution comprises the holder of thedebit account. In yet another example, the financial account comprises ademand deposit account and the financial institution comprises theholder of the demand deposit account. An indication of authorization,e.g., an approval message 1610, electronic receipt, or other message,can be received at the payment system 425 from the financial institution316. The indication of whether the transaction is authorized can be sentfrom the payment system 425 to the first acquirer system, e.g., thegateway 415 based on the indication of authorization from the financialinstitution 316. In other cases, the financial account can comprise astored value account and the second acquirer system can comprise asystem maintaining information related to the stored value account suchas prepaid system 430. In such a case, a request for authorization ofthe transaction can be sent to the prepaid system 430 and anauthorization or denial can be provided by the prepaid system 430 inreply. The request and reply can be communicated through the mobilecommerce gateway 415 or between the payments system 425 and prepaidsystem 430 without passing through the gateway 415. Additionally oralternatively, the financial account can comprise a loyalty account andthe second acquirer system can comprise a system maintaining informationrelated to the loyalty account.

FIG. 17 is a flowchart illustrating a process for handling paymentsaccording to one embodiment of the present invention. In this example,the process begins with receiving 1705 at a first acquirer system acommunication, i.e., an authorization request, from a point-of-sale(POS) device. The communication can be related to the paymenttransaction and can include information identifying a financial accountfrom which a payment is requested. A second acquirer for authorizing thepayment can be identified 1710 based on the information identifying thefinancial account. The communication can be sent 1715 to the secondacquirer system for authorization of the transaction based on theinformation related to the financial account. An indication of whetherthe transaction is authorized can be received 1717 from the secondacquirer system. In response to an indication that the transaction isauthorized 1720, an authorization message can be generated 1730 and sent1735 to the POS device. In response to an indication that thetransaction is not authorized 1720, a denial message can be generated1725 and sent 1735 to the POS device.

FIG. 18 is a block diagram illustrating elements of a mobile commercesystem for handling payments or transfers between mobile devicesaccording to one embodiment of the present invention. As illustratedhere, a system can comprise a wireless communications network 325 and afirst mobile device 324 communicatively coupled with the wirelesscommunications network 325. The first mobile device 324 can be adaptedto execute a mobile wallet application 408, wherein the mobile walletapplication 408 can be adapted to maintain at least one set ofinformation related to a first financial account. The system can alsoinclude a second mobile device 1810 communicatively coupled with thewireless communications network 325. The second mobile device 1810 canbe adapted to execute a mobile wallet application 1805, wherein themobile wallet application 1805 of the second device 1810 can be adaptedto maintain at least one set of information related to a secondfinancial account.

According to one embodiment, the user of the first mobile device 324 mayinitiate a payment to the user of the second mobile device 1810. Forexample, a user of one mobile device can transfer value, e.g., money,credit, gift card value, etc., or other items such as advertising ormarketing offers to another mobile device or user by selecting a “paymobile wallet” or other option via his mobile wallet interface. Uponinitiation, the user of the first mobile device 324 can select anaccount for which information is stored in the mobile wallet 408 of thefirst mobile device 324 from which payment will be made. Similarly, theuser of the second mobile device 1810 can select an account for whichinformation is stored in the mobile wallet 1805 of the second mobiledevice 1810 to which payment will be made.

In some cases, the mobile wallet 408 or 1805 of one or both devices 324and 1810 may also assign a transaction number or some other identifyinginformation to the transaction. That is, in order to identifycommunications related to the transfer, information identifying thetransfer can be assigned by the mobile wallet of one or both devices. Insome cases, the information may include the account numbers for thetransaction. For example, the parties may “beam” via RF, IR, NFC, orother communications means, to the other device the account numberselected. In other cases, to in order to avoid sharing account numbersbetween the devices, other identifying information may be used. Forexample, the mobile wallet may be associated with a device number, phonenumber or other number or information identifying the device on which itis installed. Thus, a payor may designate a device to which thetransaction is targeted. In still other cases, the originating device,target device, or both in combination may generate a unique identifierfor the transaction. Regardless of how the identifier is generated, theidentifying information can be included in communications to and fromthe devices 324 and 1810 and between other elements of the system tocorrelate the communications to the transaction or transfer.

One or both of the mobile devices 324 and 1810 can then send anauthorization request 1805 and 1810 via the service provider network tothe mobile wallet server 335 and/or the acquirer system 312. Accordingto one embodiment, the requests 1805 and 1810 may include identitycredentials or other information for authenticating or otherwiseverifying the users and/or devices by any or all of the elements of thesystem. Additionally or alternatively, the requests 1805 and 1810 caninclude information identifying the transaction and/or one or bothaccount numbers involved in the transaction.

A first acquirer system, e.g., the gateway 415, can be communicativelycoupled with the wireless communications network 325 either directly orvia the mobile wallet server 335. The first acquirer system 415 can beadapted to receive a communication from the first mobile device 1805,i.e., the authorization request. The authorization request 1805 from thefirst mobile device 324 can include information identifying the firstfinancial account from which the payment is requested. A second acquirersystem such as a payment system 425 can be communicatively coupled withthe first acquirer system 415. The first acquirer system 415 can befurther adapted to identify the second acquirer system 425 based on theinformation identifying the first financial account, send thecommunication to the second acquirer system 425 for authorization of thetransaction based on the information related to the first financialaccount. The second acquirer system can, for example, send theauthorization request 1815 to a first financial institution 316, i.e.,the financial institution issuing or holding the first financialaccount, for authorization and receive an indication 1820 of whether thetransaction is authorized. The second acquirer system 425 can send theindication 1820 of whether the transaction is authorized to the firstacquirer system 415 to be returned, for example via the gateway 415and/or mobile wallet server 335 to the first mobile device 324 and thesecond mobile device 1810.

As noted above, the first acquirer system 415 can receive from thesecond mobile device 1810 a communication 1810 identifying a secondfinancial account to which the payment is directed. In such cases, thesecond acquirer system 425 can be adapted to generate a paymentnotification message 1825 identify a system 317 maintaining the secondfinancial account based on the communication 1810 identifying the secondfinancial account and send the payment notification message 1825 to thesystem 317 maintaining the second financial account in response toreceiving an indication that the transaction is authorized. The paymentnotification message may be used to initiate and/or authorize, forexample in combination with the approval message 1820 from the firstfinancial institution, a transaction between the first financialinstitution and the second financial institution to complete thepayment. In reply, the second acquirer system 425 may receive a message1830 indicating receipt of the payment. The second payment system 425may then forward the receipt message 1830 to the second mobile device1810, for example via the gateway 415 and/or the mobile wallet server335.

It should be understood that the first financial account can comprise acredit account and the first financial institution can comprise theissuer of the credit account. In another cases, the first financialaccount can comprise a debit account and the financial institution cancomprise the holder of the debit account. In another example, the firstfinancial account can comprise a demand deposit account and thefinancial institution can comprise the holder of the demand depositaccount. In still another example, the first financial account cancomprise a loyalty account and the second acquirer system can comprise asystem maintaining information related to the loyalty account.

In yet another example, either or both of the financial accounts cancomprise a stored value account and the acquirer systems 312 can includea system maintaining information related to the stored value accountsuch as prepaid system 430. In such a case, a request for authorizationof the transaction can be sent to the prepaid system 430 and anauthorization or denial can be provided by the prepaid system 430 inreply. The request and reply can be communicated through the mobilecommerce gateway 415 or between the payments system 425 and prepaidsystem 430 without passing through the gateway 415. In other words,rather than transferring payments to or from a credit account, debitaccount, demand deposit account, etc., a transfer to or from a prepaidor stored value account, such as a gift card or other stored valueaccount, can be performed. For example, a user initiating a transactionmay choose to transfer a gift card from his mobile wallet to the mobilewallet of the recipient or payee. In another example, an initiating usermay elect to add value to or “top-up” a card already in the recipient orpayor's wallet. In yet another example, the initiating user may chooseto pay the recipient in the form of a new gift card or stored valueaccount, i.e., add a new card to the payee's mobile wallet.

In such cases, the transaction can proceed in a manner similar to thatdescribed above. For example, when making a transfer from a credit,debit, demand deposit, or other type of account to a prepaid account,the first acquirer system, e.g., the gateway 415, can be adapted toreceive a communication from the first mobile device 324, i.e., theauthorization request 1805. The authorization request 1805 from thefirst mobile device 324 can include information identifying the firstfinancial account from which the payment is requested. The gateway 415can be further adapted to identify the second acquirer system e.g., thepayments system 425, based on the information identifying the firstfinancial account. As noted above, the second acquirer system can, forexample, send the authorization request 1815 to a first financialinstitution 316, i.e., the financial institution issuing or holding thefirst financial account, for authorization and receive an indication1820 of whether the transaction is authorized. The second acquirersystem 425 can send the indication 1820 of whether the transaction isauthorized to the gateway 415 to be provided to the prepaid system 430.The prepaid system 430, upon receiving from the gateway 415 anauthorization request identifying a target account, user, device, etc.and an approval message, can credit the identified or new prepaidaccount, generate a payment receipt, and send the receipt to the gateway415 to be returned to one or both of the mobile devices 324 and 1810.

In another example, when making a transfer from a prepaid account toanother type of account, the gateway 415 can be adapted to receive acommunication from the first mobile device 324, i.e., the authorizationrequest 1805. The authorization request 1805 from the first mobiledevice 324 can include information identifying the first financialaccount from which the payment is requested. The gateway 415 can befurther adapted to identify the second acquirer system e.g., the prepaidsystem 430, based on the information identifying the first financialaccount. The prepaid system 430 can then authorize the payment, or not,and send an indication of whether the transaction is authorized, e.g., apayment notice 1825 to the gateway 415 to be provided to the paymentssystem 425. The payments system 425, upon receiving from the gateway 415an payment notice 1825 identifying a target account, user, device, etc.and an approval message, can credit the identified account, generate apayment receipt 1830, and send the receipt to the gateway 415 to bereturned to one or both of the mobile devices 324 and 1810.

In yet another example, when making payments or transfers betweenprepaid accounts, the gateway 415 can be adapted to receive acommunication from the first mobile device 324, i.e., the authorizationrequest 1805. The authorization request 1805 from the first mobiledevice 324 can include information identifying the first financialaccount from which the payment is requested. The gateway 415 can befurther adapted to identify the second acquirer system e.g., the prepaidsystem 430, based on the information identifying the first financialaccount. The prepaid system 430 can then authorize the payment, creditthe identified target account, and send an indication of completion ordenial of the transaction, e.g., a payment receipt, and send the receiptto the gateway 415 to be returned to one or both of the mobile devices324 and 1810.

FIG. 19 is a flowchart illustrating a process for handling payments ortransfers between mobile devices according to one embodiment of thepresent invention. In this example, the process begins with receiving1905 at a first acquirer system a communication from the first mobiledevice. The communication can be related to the payment transaction andcan include information identifying a first financial account from whicha payment is requested. In some cases, a communication can be received1910 from the second mobile device that identifies a second financialaccount to which the payment is directed. A second acquirer system forauthorizing the payment can be identified 1915 based on the informationidentifying the first financial account. The communication can be sent1920 to the second acquirer system for authorization of the transactionbased on the information related to the first financial account.

An indication of whether the transaction is authorized can be received1922 at the second acquirer system. In response to receiving anindication that the transaction is authorized 1925, a paymentauthorization message can be generated 1935. In some cases, a systemmaintaining the second financial account can be identified based on thecommunication identifying the second financial account and a paymentnotification message can be generated 1940. The payment authorizationmessage and/or the notification message, if any, can be sent 1945 to thesystem maintaining the second financial account, the first mobiledevice, and/or the second mobile device. Settlement, i.e., the transferof funds between the accounts involved, can then be performed in theconventional manner. In response to receiving from the second acquirersystem an indication that the transaction is not authorized 1925, adenial message can be generated 1930 and sent 1945 to the first mobiledevice and/or the second mobile device.

In the foregoing description, for the purposes of illustration, methodswere described in a particular order. It should be appreciated that inalternate embodiments, the methods may be performed in a different orderthan that described. Additionally, the methods may contain additional orfewer steps than described above. It should also be appreciated that themethods described above may be performed by hardware components or maybe embodied in sequences of machine-executable instructions, which maybe used to cause a machine, such as a general-purpose or special-purposeprocessor or logic circuits programmed with the instructions, to performthe methods. These machine-executable instructions may be stored on oneor more machine readable mediums, such as CD-ROMs or other type ofoptical disks, floppy diskettes, ROMs, RAMs, EPROMs, EEPROMs, magneticor optical cards, flash memory, or other types of machine-readablemediums suitable for storing electronic instructions. Alternatively, themethods may be performed by a combination of hardware and software.

While illustrative and presently preferred embodiments of the inventionhave been described in detail herein, it is to be understood that theinventive concepts may be otherwise variously embodied and employed, andthat the appended claims are intended to be construed to include suchvariations, except as limited by the prior art.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method of providing a plurality of mobilecommerce functions, the method comprising: receiving at a first acquirersystem operated by a business entity a communication related to afunction of a plurality of functions of a mobile wallet application of amobile device of a customer, wherein the communication is received froma merchant system separate from the first acquirer system, and whereinthe communication comprises: information related to a customer loyaltyprogram; and information related to a payment; identifying with thefirst acquirer system one or more second acquirer systems of a pluralityof acquirer systems operated by the business entity for handling of thecommunication, wherein: each of the plurality of acquirer systemsprocess different types of financial transactions; the one or moresecond acquirer systems are identified based on the communicationreceived from the merchant system; a first identified one of theplurality of acquirer systems comprises a payment system; and a secondidentified one of the plurality of acquirer systems comprises a customerloyalty system; routing the communication from the first acquirer systemto the first identified one of the plurality of acquirer systems forhandling of the payment; routing the communication from the firstacquirer system to the second identified one of the plurality ofacquirer systems for handling of the customer loyalty program; receivingat the first acquirer system a reply to the communication from at leastone of the identified one or more second acquirer systems; generatingwith the first acquirer system an electronic receipt corresponding tothe payment, the electronic receipt comprising transaction information;transmitting the electronic receipt directly from the first acquirersystem to a personal computer of the customer; and wirelesslytransmitting the electronic receipt from the personal computer of thecustomer to the mobile wallet application of the mobile device forsynchronization with the mobile wallet application of the mobile device.2. The method of claim 1, wherein receiving the communication comprisesreceiving the communication from a point-of-sale device.
 3. The methodof claim 1, wherein the function comprises a payment function.
 4. Themethod of claim 1, wherein the function comprises an account informationlookup function.
 5. The method of claim 1, wherein the functioncomprises a registration function.
 6. The method of claim 1, wherein thefunction comprises a marketing function.
 7. The method of claim 1,wherein the function comprises a provisioning function.
 8. The method ofclaim 1, wherein the plurality of functions of the mobile walletapplication comprise a payment function, an account information lookupfunction, a registration function, a marketing function, and aprovisioning function.
 9. A machine-readable medium having storedthereon a series of instruction which, when executed by a processor,cause the processor to provide a plurality of mobile commerce functionsby: receiving at a first acquirer system of a plurality of acquirersystems operated by a business entity a communication related to afunction of a plurality of functions of a mobile wallet application of amobile device of a customer, wherein the communication is received froma merchant system separate from the first acquirer system, and whereinthe communication comprises: information related to a customer loyaltyprogram; and information related to a payment; identifying with thefirst acquirer system one or more second acquirer systems of theplurality of acquirer systems operated by the business entity forhandling of the communication, wherein: each of the plurality ofacquirer systems process different types of financial transactions; theone or more second acquirer systems are identified based on thecommunication received from the merchant system; a first identified oneof the plurality of acquirer systems comprises a payment system; and asecond identified one of the plurality of acquirer systems comprises acustomer loyalty system; routing the communication from the firstacquirer system to the first identified one of the plurality of acquirersystems for handling of the payment; routing the communication from thefirst acquirer system to the second identified one of the plurality ofacquirer systems for handling of the customer loyalty program; receivingat the first acquirer system a reply to the communication from at leastone of the identified one or more second acquirer systems; generatingwith the first acquirer system an electronic receipt corresponding tothe payment, the electronic receipt comprising transaction information;transmitting the electronic receipt directly from the first acquirersystem to a personal computer of the customer; and transmitting theelectronic receipt from the personal computer of the customer to themobile wallet application of the mobile device for synchronization withthe mobile wallet application of the mobile device.
 10. Themachine-readable medium of claim 9, wherein receiving the communicationcomprises receiving the communication from a point-of-sale device.